On October 24th, nine REACH students attended the first of seven sessions in the Northwest YMCA Future Leaders Program. Melany A., George C., Cody D. Elyssia E., Samuel G., Jesus G., Angel H., Elizabeth R., and Anna T. spent the day at orientation and team building at YMCA Camp Carter.

In addition to REACH HS, there were students in attendance from Boswell HS, Saginaw HS, Chisholm Trail HS, Lake Worth HS, and Azle HS. Melany shared, “It was really good because I got to meet new people and learn how to interact with other people from other schools.” Cody also agreed, “The best part of the trip was the people. Meeting someone new was great.”

George expressed, “It was an amazing experience. Everyone was getting together to figure out the activities, but not everything was games. They taught us how to succeed in life and they walked us through some career options that might fit with our personalities.”

“Today at the YMCA Future Leadership Program, we got broken up into different groups with other high schools. It was interesting meeting new people and finding out what we have in common. During the introduction to other high schools, we played different leadership skills games,” explained Elyssia. Samuel continued, “The groups taught us to work together at different tasks. Also to learn about jobs and what we like.”

Jesus learned, “How to be respectful and helpful to others. I also learned that there is always a way out when you are stuck.” Elizabeth learned, “That sometimes we over think the little things.” REACH students appreciated being exposed to career options that were new to them. Anna, “I learned about more careers I had no clue about. I also learned many values in order to be a leader such as respect and confidence.”

Angel enjoyed all of the team leadership games but one in particular was her favorite. “You had to jump over someone and there had to be one standing left.”

The students will attend session 2 on November 7th at UNT- TCC C.E.A.T.L Campus.